MIAMI — LeBron James learned his lesson in Cleveland — he could not win on his own. Nobody can. You need teammates worth trusting and to give them the rock.

Now just because the Heat are down 0-1 to the Spurs and he went scoreless for a six-minute stretch in the fourth quarter, he’s not forgetting that lesson. And he’s not listening to those telling him he has to be more aggressive.

“No, I can’t get involved in that honestly, because I’ve done more and lost before,” LeBron said Saturday after practice. “I mean we played Orlando, when I was in Cleveland we played Orlando in the Eastern Conference Finals and I think I averaged 38, 36, or whatever I averaged (38.5 in the 2009 series). I guess I should have done more in that series as well. But I can’t.”

He said he doesn’t really read what is written about him, which is a policy more players should probably follow.

LeBron is right — there were moments in Game 1 where he drew three defenders and he has no real choice but to pass and hope Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh or Norris Cole could knock down an open look.

Thing is he also did a good job getting into the lane and creating space for himself to shoot, and he passed out of those, too. The Spurs packed the paint and he took the bait in Game 1. Those are the ones he has to take. And make.

We’re going to see a much more aggressive LeBron and Heat in Game 2. The question then is can the Spurs still handle that at both end — can Kawhi Leonard and the Heat big men stay out of foul trouble when LeBron does attack?

You would ” love for the Heat bigs to foul LBJ when he attacks the lane”, so you think that Miami will foul one of it’s players/teammate when he drives to the lane ? Did you mean to say the Spurs foul LBJ when he attacks the lane so..you want the referees to decide the outcome of the game. The Spurs are well coached and know how to play defense and how to draw charges as well as the next team, I would prefer that the officials let them play and if they call it close do it on both teams.

I still think SA will win this series because of their overall team effort as a whole vs Miami’s big 3. Wade and Bosh have been inconsistent and MIA in a few games. They do that a couple of times in this series and SA will finish them in 6.
But, with that said, Miami will steam roll them in game 2.

Lebron isn’t the trouble here. I’m stunned that the big story line is he had an off game. He went 18 18 and 10 come on. Clearly he needs his team to step up and help him. Enough about him already and write stories about how his team is letting him down.

Like what? It’s impossible to get any value for Wade right now – from other teams’ perspectives, if he bounces back healthy he opts out after one year, and if he doesn’t they’re stuck with him for three years. As for Bosh, what kind of fit would there be? No growing team is really going to want him, and no contending team is going to give up a low-post big for a perimeter big.

LeBron has played well this post season and he didn’t play poorly in game 1 either. Also, they only lost by 4 points. The Heat had the better of the Spurs for the first 3 quarters. Yes, they were outplayed in the 4th quarter. But, a 4 point game isn’t much. Had Parker missed his final shot and had the Heat rebounded the miss, well they would have been going for the tie or win during the last 4 something seconds. So it isn’t they were all that far from victory.

Saying all this, I don’t like the Heat and I’m rooting for the Spurs. If the Heat need others to step up, well basically one more 3 pointer or one or two more defensive stops would have gotten them this game, possibly.

Strange as it sounds, the Spurs and Heat are my two favorite teams. I’m a big Miami sports fan, but I spent a lot of time in Austin and San Antonio. So I don’t care who wins.

BUT….I really want to see the Spurs win because of the off-season rumors, stories, and changes.

If San Antonio wins, I have to imagine Tim Duncan is going to retire. Win a ring and go out on top.
Of course, it’s going to be a lot of fun to hear about, talk about, and discuss what the Heat will do with their roster if they’re now 1 and 2 in the Big 3 era. Will Ray Allen retire? Shane Battier? Juwan Howard (a joke, people)? Obviously the BIG 3 is L B & J.

I think LeBron is a fantastic player and I actually think he seems like a pretty great guy off the court too. But the talk of him being 1 for 4 in Finals is going to run rampant, and make for interesting reading.

So as much as I’d love to see the Heat win not one, not two, not three…..which would be fun in and of itself for the fact that I enjoy conversations about parity and superstars conspiring to play with each other in big (or flashy) markets. As much as that would be great, the Spurs winning this series leads to a much more active off-season.

I’ve waited years to root for the Spurs. Part of me knew it was right and just, but I could never convince myself to do so. Now, with no reservation, no Durant or Dirk…I am free to cheer the one team I love to hate just a little less than Miami.

This captures the enigma of Lebron, which he only rose above last year. He is a point-forward whose middle name is ‘triple double’ but often has lacked the killer instinct needed.

While he can’t focus on scoring 40 points a night, if there is a night where he needs to – he should. Every game is different and when his teammates aren’t hitting their shot, he should step up his scoring. For this reason I would have preferred a generic answer, a la “I’ll do whatever it takes to help the team win.”

Ultimately, he is right. They have to hit their shots. It just sounds like an excuse however.

The heat need to use their bench a lot in the first half to put a lot of pressure on sanantonio. The heat had zero energy in game 1 in the forth quarter. Not a good way to coach against a team like the spurs who know when to hit the gas pedal. Lebron needs to conserve up for the final quarter.